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Heavy rainfall triggered a mudslide that closed Highway 1 near Golden Wednesday and prompted flood warnings around the province.

Some regions have been hit with as much as 130 millimetres of rain in the past 72 hours, with up to 70 millimetres of rain expected Wednesday and overnight.

A 147-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 between Revelstoke and Golden was closed in both directions after a mudslide struck early Wednesday morning. By the afternoon, the mud and debris that covered 400 metres of the Trans-Canada Highway was about three metres deep.

The highway is expected to be closed until at least noon Thursday as crews work to clear the debris.

Although catchment basins were constructed on the slopes around Highway 1 to prevent mudslides from spilling onto the road, a Parks Canada release said the volume was greater than the basins could hold.

One vehicle was caught in the slide but the driver escaped and made it to a safe area uninjured.

Parks Canada advised that the unpredictable nature of the mudflow means further disruptions are expected throughout the next few days.

Wednesday’s closure resulted in delays on Highway 23 in southeastern B.C. between Galena Bay and Shelter Bay and long lineups at inland ferries, as drivers tried to find alternate routes through the region.

The highways ministry initially recommended Highway 3 as an alternate route; however, at least 20 centimetres of snow and a couple minor accidents forced an almost 84-kilometre closure of the road between Salmo and Creston.

The Big Bar Ferry and Lytton Ferry also stopped running because of high waters.

“We’re going through some interesting times here with these heavy rainfall warnings,” said Ministry of Transportation spokesman Glenn Olleck. “There’s all sorts of things that could occur along our highway corridors.”

Olleck advised travellers to “drive with caution, and ... access DriveBC for the latest road and weather information.”

Heavy rains have pelted much of the province throughout the past week. Environment Canada issued rainfall warnings Wednesday of between 20 millimetres and 70 millimetres for most of central and eastern B.C.

Flood watches that came into effect earlier in the week were broadened to include parts of the Fraser, Shuswap and Eagle rivers, the Peace and Columbia regions, the Kootenays and Sicamous. Rivers in the South Interior, Okanagan and Kettle were also expected to rise rapidly as rainfall continued overnight and into today.

“This is the window where [residents] should be getting prepared,” said B.C. Rivers Forecast Centre spokesman David Campbell about those communities at risk of flooding.

Loree Duczek, spokeswoman for the Regional District of the East Kootenays, told The Vancouver Sun Tuesday that the region’s emergency operation program had not yet been activated, but emergency teams are on standby. Some 73,000 sandbags have been stockpiled with another 66,000 expected by the end of the week, according to the regional district’s website.

The West Kootenays, meanwhile, has been prepared for flooding for the past month under threat of a heavier-than-usual snowpack in the nearby mountains and swollen rivers over the past few days.

“We have been telling people that if you’ve been flooded in the past, this might be a year when you’re flooded again,” said West Kootenay spokeswoman Noreen Clayton. “All the rivers are high everywhere and the lake levels are rising.”

The risk to communities depends upon factors such as snowpack, precipitation, temperatures and current river levels.

B.C. is not the only province experiencing problems due to heavy rain. Alberta issued flood warning advisories for many of its southern rivers after a vicious spring storm, with rising fears that the melting of a record snowpack will overwhelm waterways.

With files from Kelly Sinoski and the Calgary Herald

knursall@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/kimnursall

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Mudslide to keep Trans-Canada Highway closed until Thursday noon

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